Greetings and peace be with you all,
Debt
For every £1 given in aid, £9 is taken back in debt repayments. Debt is a major problem. In the 1960s and 1970s, Developing Countries took out loans from the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and rich countries. The debts have to be paid back with interest, and countries often end up owing far more than they can afford to pay back. The IMF then imposes “Structural Adjustment Programmes”, which forces the country to cut down on healthcare and education, so they can pay the debt.
Africa’s interest repayments cost four times as much as is spent on health care.
In Zambia, between 1990 and 1993, debt repayments cost 34 times as much as the country was able to spend on primary school education – education spending fell by more than 80%.
Trade
Rich Developed Countries buy goods such as sugar, cotton and coffee from the poor South. However, poor countries receive low prices because people in the North want cheap groceries. This keeps people in poverty.
Education and child labour
250 million+ children between 5 and 14 work (often dangerously) in factories, fields, and on the streets. In the poorest countries, most adults cannot read or write. Most children never get a secondary education because they work to bring in money for the family. Most of these are girls.
Lack of education brings problems such as:
• People can not change their lives
• Fewer employment opportunities
• It makes receiving health education much more difficult.
Rich countries need education, too.
They do not deliberately buy goods from companies that cheat the poor - they simply do not know what is going on.
http://www.rsrevision.com/GCSE/short...rty/causes.htm
In the spirit of praying for justice for all people
Eric